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American Express Business Travel, a global industry leader in business
travel management, today released data from the 2010 third quarter
Business Travel Monitor (BTM) North America, showing price increases are
holding steady as business travel continues to rebound. Notably, data
from the Q3 BTM reveals pricing power is shifting into the hands of
suppliers as both international and domestic airfares and domestic hotel
rates increased in year-over-year in Q3 2010.

?During the past quarter we've witnessed a distinct shift from a buyers'
market to a suppliers' market leading to higher prices across several
travel categories including airfare and hotel rates,? said Christa
Degnan Manning, director, eXpert insights research, Global Advisory
Services, American Express Business Travel. ?Airlines have been
especially successful in constraining capacity and increasing fares to
create more sustainable financial stability. This should prompt
companies to revise travel cost-control tactics, identify new
opportunities for travel return on investment, and ultimately change
traveler behavior in response to the new increased price environment.?

With airlines exerting greater control over prices, business travelers
have seen a third quarter year-over-year increase of six percent in
average North American domestic airfare paid and a third quarter
year-over-year increase of eight percent in average international
airfare paid.

?Hotel rates have lagged behind the airline pricing rebound as savvy
travel category sourcing professionals locked in lower prices at the end
of 2009 based on on-going economic anxiety in the hotel community, but
as business travelers headed back on the road hoteliers have been able
to make marginal increases this year. Rates appear to be on a consistent
rise domestically in the US, and an increase in hotel closures and a
drop-off in the hotel construction pipeline due to the Great Recession
will put some constraints on capacity moving forward. As such, companies
need to evaluate the competitiveness of their rates across their top
markets and identify opportunities during this negotiation season to
avoid likely expected rate increases across the board in all tiers of
properties,? continued Manning. ?Global Advisory Services has already
seen an average increase of more than 7% in corporate rates worldwide
this year for 2011 business travelers.?

The American Express Business Travel Monitor is a key deliverable of
American Express Business Travel Global Advisory Services' eXpert
insights research practice. Using US business travel point of sale data,
it benchmarks the average prices paid for air, hotel, and car rental
service by class of service for hundreds of key business travel
destinations globally through aggregate analysis of American Express'
extensive database of travel booking and payment information.

The BTM includes both average published and business traveler purchased
air fares captured across hundreds of domestic and international routes,
including unrestricted first class, business, economy, and discounted,
restricted economy air fares. The methodology for the average air fare
paid is the one-way price paid by all travelers booked through American
Express Business Travel, including taxes and fees at ticketing point of
sale, for all routes.

Average booked hotel rates, both international and domestic, represent
the total spending of all American Express Business Travel clients,
excluding taxes, divided by the total number of room nights confirmed.
The full BTM includes hotel averages by major city neighborhoods and
category of hotel by price range. The average daily cost for car rentals
is drawn from American Express Corporate Card data and includes all
charges incurred, including mileage, gas, tax and insurance, divided by
the average length of rental. Data for the distribution of rental class
categories is drawn from all rentals booked by the entire American
Express Business Travel customer base.

About American Express Business Travel

American Express Business Travel (www.americanexpress.com/businesstravel),
a division of American Express Company, is committed to helping its
clients maximize the return on their travel investment through increased
cost savings, world-class customer service and greater spending control.
With clients ranging from small businesses to multinational
corporations, American Express Business Travel provides a combination of
industry-leading technology, travel management consulting, strategic
sourcing and supplier negotiation support, alongside global customer
service available online and offline. The Company also provides a
dynamic online community (www.businesstravelconneXion.com)
harnessing the collective intelligence of those in the business travel
industry offering a variety of perspectives, best practices, current
research and industry news.

American Express operates one of the world's largest travel agency
networks with locations in over 140 countries worldwide. Total travel
sales volume in 2009 was $21.5 billion, including proprietary volume,
volume processed through joint ventures, and American Express branded
volume processed through its partner network.